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Instead, he took her savings and used them for his family's benefit after establishing a family trust - but not on terms agreed with Moanaroa.

The High Court has ordered Ruwhiu and two others to pay Moanaroa, who lives in Whangārei, more than $500,000 in total for breaches of fiduciary duty after Moanaroa took legal action to recoup her loss.

She met Ruwhiu at a seminar about mortgagee sales in 2003, at a time a property she part-owned in Whenuapai was to be sold under a mortgagee sale.

When the trust fell into arrears, Vernon Ruwhiu's sister Bonnie Ruwhiu obtained an interest-only mortgage over the property for $175,000 and paid the settlement sum in October 2017.

He then arranged for Bonnie to become the sole owner of the house after which she also became a trustee .

Moanaroa stayed in the house as a tenant but was evicted in 2015 following a mortgagee sale after Bonnie defaulted on the interest repayments in 2014.

Justice Christian Whata said the breach of fiduciary duty involving the deceptive taking of an elderly woman's savings is outrageous.

With independent advice, the judge said Moanaroa would never have consented to the transfer of her money to the trust over which she had no control and through which the Ruwhius could directly benefit.